The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

Hello Cairo!

While the season of weekend beach getaways has come and gone for the year, Cairo's nightlife and arts & culture venues are back in full gear, with this weekend rolling out a whole host of events.

Things kick off with a typically busy Thursday, as Tamer Auf returns to the Tap in Maadi for some groovy beats, British electro music duo and Bodyrox, join resident DJ Irma for a night of house music at Fairmont Nile City’s O Bar, while popular DJs Baher and Sebzz take their broody electronic stylings to the decks of Cairo’s newest nighlife spot, Zigzag and local band, Hawas, performs their neo-pop tunes over at ROOM Art Space in Garden City. 

Meanwhile, legendary jazz artist and drummer, Yehya Khalil, performs at Cairo Opera House’s Small Hall alongside some local jazz talents, singer and guitarist Danny Malak, performs some acoustic pop and rock covers, before leading Beatles’ cover band, Glass Onion, wrap up the night over at Cairo Jazz Club.

Elsewhere, AUC Falaki Theatre hosts two consecutive nights of original play For Her, written and directed by Moustafa Khalil and at El Sawy Culturewheel’s River Hall, El Sakia Puppet Theatre, take to the stage their lively and brilliant puppetry performance, reliving Om Kolthoum’s legacy and oriental takht.  

Friday sees a variety of things happening across the city; local rock and blues band, Bluezophrenia, return to the Tap and Cairo Jazz Club welcomes Fairouz T. and Aguizi and Fahim, while fitness guru, Yasmine El Sharkawy, leads a ladies and children’s only fitness event featuring Zumba and Capoeira sessions at El Sawy Culturewheel. 

Across the Nile in Garden City, InterContinental Semiramis' Night & Day hosts another lavish brunch featuring everything from Lebanese to Asian, and stand-up troupe, Al Hezb El Comedy, takes over El Sawy Culturewheel’s Wisdom Hall.

On Saturday, meanwhile, Basheer return to Cairo Jazz Club with his Nubian-inspired tunes, singer-songwriter, RaShRadio, winds down the weekend at the Tap,  and Cairo Opera House live screening of  Verdi’s ‘La Trovatore’ from the Met in NYC, while, under the conductorship of Maestro Ahmed El Saedi, the Cairo Symphony Orchestra take to the stage with special guest violinist, Ryu Goto.

Aspiring to find their own platform of expression, the BuSSy project – one of Egypt’s most unique theatre initiatives – are set to hold an all-day fundraising event at ROOM Art Space, with a garage sale, live BuSSy performances and an acostic set by popular musician, Abo, awaiting. Meanwhile, poetry enthusiasts have some pretty big events to sink their teeth into, with 100 Thousand Poets for Change at Al Kotob Khan and the launch of the Colloquial Poetry Festival at El Sawy Culturewheel.   

These are just a few of the events taking place across the capital; check out the Cairo 360 events calendar for more.